What needs to be "reformed" about education?

According to TIME magazine, Barack Obama “has to choose sides” on school reform. He, according to TIME, has to choose between being an ally of the “teacher’s unions” or aligned with “school reform”. Is it really true that choosing between soft and tough is the Obama administration’s only choice? For 15 different views on what is possible for children and young people in schools, read the special Winter 08/09 issue of the Green Money Journal, “Whole Mind Education: A New Paradigm”.